Agnes+Wendt

A review of the 72-page Coroner's Inquest indicates that Agnes Wendt, who is listed as an abortion death in the Homicide in Chicago Database, was not actually an abortion death -- though her husband tried to claim that she was.

On November 6, 1923, 35-year-old Agnes, a homemaker, died at Chicago's St. Anne's Hospital from serious gynecological problems. Dr. Irene Wagoner was exonerated by the coroner, but nevertheless indicted for murder in Agnes' death, based evidently on the accusations made by Agnes' husband, Gustav.

Agnes, a Chicago native, was daughter of Scottish immigrants James and Margaret (Gordon) Glen.

During the first two thirds of the 20th Century, while abortion was still illegal, there was a massive drop in maternal mortality, including mortality from abortion. Most researches attribute this plunge to improvements in public health and hygiene, the development of blood transfusion techniques, and the introduction of antibiotics. Learn more [|here]. 

Source:


 * [|Homicide in Chicago Interactive]

include component="tagCloud"